After enjoying an outstanding junior season that included his first all-Eastern Missouri Conference award, Cooper Henderson was really excited about coming back out for another season with the Wellsville-Middletown boys basketball team when practices began in November.

“Getting all-conference on a two-win team last year gave me the confidence to work harder and play better for my team,” the senior said. “It makes my team better also.”

So far after two months, life has been good for Henderson. He scored in double figures in several games this winter, including the Tigers’ 59-44 win over New Haven on Jan. 24 at Roundtree and Johnson Court.

“I’ve been feeling better this year than I did last year,” Henderson said. “I’ve been in the gym, working more than I did last year. That’s what is shown in the games.”

Henderson finished with a team-high 26 points in the contest against New Haven. He helped W-M avenge the 52-37 loss to the Shamrocks in the seventh–place game of the Montgomery County Invitational Tournament on Dec. 6.

“Everything was clicking,” W-M coach Josh Albregts said. “Communication was working. The rebounds were working as well. We outrebounded them big time on the boards. One of the things about rebounding is you can’t relax on them, that’s for sure. You can’t take a day off. It’s just one of those things. Boards create baskets, in my opinion.”

The Tigers improved to 4-10, doubling their win total of two from last year.
Also, the W-M girls lost 28-13 to New Haven to drop to 3-12. Even though they finished with their lowest offensive output of the season, they turned in their best defensive effort of the year. Their 28 points allowed tied a season-low.

“This is a good team we played with an all-state center (Alayna Lagemann),” W-M girls coach Steve Lasman said. “She is a heck of a player. They played great tonight. I’m so proud of our girls.”

In the boys contest, the Tigers went off to a blazing start, leading 28-0 after the first 11 minutes of the game. Henderson scored 15 of those points, including a couple of breakaway dunks.

“All year, we talked about setting the tone early and having that upbeat tempo and having everything firing on all cylinders and everything,” Albregts said. “Finally, we were able to execute that tonight and see what happens whenever we finally execute. We came out with a 28-0 run. I played for many years and I coached many years. I have never seen a run like that before.”

In the last meeting in December, W-M led 13-8 after the first quarter before New Haven went on a 17-0 run into the second quarter.

In the Jan. 24 contest, the Tigers led 21-0 after the first quarter. They came up two points shy of their highest offensive output of 61 points that was set in the season opener against Community R-6 in late November.

“We lost to New Haven earlier in the season and we just wanted to come out and set the tone early, which we did in the first quarter,” Henderson said.

Also for the Tigers, senior Gage Marshall scored 18 points and senior Jonah Slovensky finished with 11 despite sitting out in the third quarter due to a bloody lip he suffered while fighting for a rebound.

“This is a good team effort,” Henderson said. “We all played well.”

Henderson is in his fourth and final season with the Tigers. When he was a freshman, he was part of the W-M team that placed fourth in the Class 1 state tournament. He started his senior year off strong, scoring 23 points in the Tigers’ season-opening win over Community. He also had a 27-point effort against New Franklin in a first-round game of the New Franklin Tournament on Jan. 7.

Albregts said he enjoys watching Henderson play.

“He’s a great part of the team,” the W-M coach said. “Whenever we see a lot of our runs, Cooper is usually the one leading the charge. He brings energy to the team that nobody else brings. We try to ride that as much as possible.”

Elly Cash scored six points, Hallie Guzy had five and Keigan Hall had two for the Tigers in the girls contest.

W-M trailed 7-5 at halftime before being outscored 21-8 in the second half. The Tigers finished with 22 turnovers.

“We struggle on offense because we turn the ball over,” Lasman said. “We’re a small team. What happens is a lot of teams overplay us with tall girls and we have trouble reversing the ball.”

Both W-M boys and girls teams are competing in the Keytesville Tournament that began on Jan. 27 and ends on Feb. 1.

The Tigers’ next home game will be on Feb. 4 against the Elsberry Indians.